Mom Answers

Here is how to get the separate MMR vaccines if your doctor won't help you.
The pharmaceutical company of these three separate immunizations is Merck.
American Medicine will need the following from your doctor:
Doctor&#8217;s prescription with the child&#8217;s name
Copy of Doctor&#8217;s license
Have your doctor fax this to 225-924-0249.
You will then pay American Medicine (225-924-0247) and they will overnight the immunizations to your doctor. You will have to pay the overnight shipping fee due to the medicine needing to be refrigerated.
Make sure you ask for the expiration dates so that you will know ahead of time and for your records.
September 2007- Cost is appx. $119 (for all 3) plus shipping/handling (+-$20.)

Our daughter is almost 18 months and we have opted not to give her the MMR vaccine or the Varicella (chicken pox) vaccine. We have had all the others administered to her. My husband works for one of the worlds largest vaccine companies and actually makes the pertussis component of the Pentacel vaccine. So we have a better than average knowledge of what goes in vaccines. We decided not to give her the MMR or chicken pox vaccines because they are "live" meaning that they are weak forms of the actual diseases that they protect against. In the case of the chicken pox vaccine, I know people that had this vaccine and still got chicken pox. This is definitely a cash grab from the drug companies. Most of us had chicken pox when we were kids and we are all fine. Also, if you ask our parents generation, most of them had the measles and/or mumps. There is a risk either way, but trust your gut. Many mothers's have not, and have given in to Dr.'s pressure, and have lived to regret it.

I have a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics so let me answer this as someone who *does* know what is in a vaccine.
Vaccines DO NOT contain complete viruses. Vaccines contain only the part of the virus that triggers an immune response in your baby. Vaccines DO NOT contain all the parts of the virus that infect your baby's cells and turn those cells into virus-making factories, putting billions of infectious viruses in your baby and making him or her really, really sick.
The supposed "link" between MMR and autism has been completely discredited. Exposing your babies to potentially lethal diseases by refusing vaccinations is NOT the way to prevent autism!!! Look at what just happened in San Diego where an unvaccinated child brought measles back from overseas and caused a health care nightmare!!
Both my daughters have received every vaccination my ped has offered. You should, too.

I find postings like the one by "twinmom" very disturbing. She's giving people medical advice despite an apparent lack of training or understanding of vaccines. On what basis does she claim that vaccines do not prevent any diseases? That is patently untrue. Vaccines can and do prevent diseases. At the end of the post, she even says to get the tenatus vaccine because that one is proven to be helpful--presumably because it prevents tetanus! She's making wild claims with no back-up evidence or studies. Vaccines do not cause SIDS or shaken baby syndrome, and for the record, shaken baby syndrome can NOT happen as a result of a seizure. Parents, trust the medical community and people with actual backgrounds in biology, infectious disease, and medicine, all of whom agree that the benefits of vaccines FAR outweigh the risks. Don't take medical advice from posters whose logic is faulty at best and who don't even have a basic grasp of grammar.

To those of you who are worried that children who are not vaccinated could get your vaccinated child sick is just not smart thinking...in fact, it's down right stupid. Come on, if your child is vaccinated then it shouldn't matter what others might be "carrying." Your vaccinated child is protected, right?! I mean, that's why you vaccinate!

Our son is 14 months old and on his 12 month well baby visit, the doctor wanted to give him 4 vaccinations, including the MMR. We said, "Oh, I'll make another appointment for that." But never did. And we won't. Not until our son is ready for school. Flooding an immature immune system with all these vaccinations at one time is just crazy. My husband and I are convinced that whatever is in these vaccinations (cause you really DON'T know) is triggering a pathological reaction in vital organs -- like the brain. I know several parents who have NOT given their child the MMR or even other vaccinations. They are scheduling these shots under THEIR terms. The numbers for autism are frightening, especially for boys. We have a boy and we will not put his life at risk to fulfill a vaccination schedule decided by doctors and drug companies.
Our doctor has said that she will not take our son as a patient unless he's fully vaccinated, so we've found another doctor who is more understanding.

Dear Capricorn45, you talk about the amount of money paid out as vaccine injury settlements but you don't seem to know anything about the VICP process or program. Average payout is $1 million, so $2 billion total payout means that about 2,000 awards have been made since 1986, or an average of 80 awards per year. In the VICP you automatically get compensated for certain injuries if they occur soon after vaccination - no proof required, no need to show that your child's genetic defects, epilepsy, etc. didn't cause it instead - automatic payout. So 80 awards per year out of over 50 million vaccines administered per year (over 4 million births per year with >80% coverage for 16 total vaccinations, 0.000156% award rate) sounds a lot safer than, say penicillin which causes severe and life threatening allergic reactions 0.01% of the time. Maybe we should ban penicillin instead?

Go to Dr. Sears' website. There's a link on it to locate a "vaccine friendly" doctor in your area. I took my 5 month old son to see this new doctor & she is absolutely wonderful and get this....she's doing the same thing I am: not giving her OWN son certain vaccines & going every other month. Plus, on the controversial MMR vaccine. YES it can be split and YES you can buy individual viles through Merck. Whether you choose to get the "live" virus or not, do your research & go find that "vaccine friendly" doctor in your area. My doctor is out of the University of Michigan & I was so relieved when I left her office.

As a pediatric RN, I have to advise against missing any immunizations. I have taken care of kids who have gotten VERY sick and one who even died because he didn't get the pertussis vaccine. Please do your research. The media has really hyped up vaccine side effects. If you, yourself, read the research, you will find the Pros of vaccinating on the current vaccine schedule WAY outway the cons.

DO NOT DELAY. The schedule was created for a reason. The "link" to autism refers to older vaccines and has never been proven. Vaccines have also been reformulated to remove both heavy metals and thimerosol (the most controversial component of many vaccines). Not only do vaccines help keep your own kid safe but also the people around your kid.

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